DEADLINE—Attention public humanities programmers! Do you have an idea for a public-facing humanities project you would like to implement within the next 30 months? Do you want to expand your existing programming into the digital realm? Do you need funds to carry out a plan you’ve already developed? Our next application round for Humanities for All Project Grants opens on Monday, June 1, 2020. Start the process by reviewing the updated Guidelines and FAQs to learn more. Register below for the upcoming webinar on Thursday, June 11, 2020. Applications are due August 3, 2020.

Project Grants (between $10,000 to $20,000) are awarded twice a year for public humanities projects of up to two-years duration from the award date. Appropriate programming formats include but are not limited to interpretive exhibits, community dialogue and discussion series, workshops and participatory activities, presentations and lectures, conversations and forums, and interactive and experiential activities. Virtual as well as face-to-face programming is encouraged. Eligibility is limited to California-based nonprofit organizations and non-federal public agencies. Note: Awards must be matched with an equivalent amount of cash or in-kind resources over the life of the project.

For grant guidelines, instructions, or to start a new application, please visit the Project Grant section of the Humanities for All Funding Opportunities webpage.

WEBINAR—Join California Humanities staff for an informational webinar about our new CA CARES Grants for Humanities Relief and Recovery. During the webinar, you will learn how to apply to the CA CARES grant lines and have an opportunity to ask questions.

Information, including the Guidelines and FAQ, can be found here. We recommend reviewing the FAQs in advance.

WEBINAR—Join California Humanities staff for an informational webinar about our new CA CARES Grants for Humanities Relief and Recovery. During the webinar, you will learn how to apply to the CA CARES grant lines and have an opportunity to ask questions.

Information, including the Guidelines and FAQ, can be found here. We recommend reviewing the FAQs in advance.

If you have any trouble accessing the webinar, contact Kirsten Vega at kvega@calhum.org. Questions about the program can be directed to Anoop Kapur at akaur@calhum.org.

]]>A Conversation with CRIP CAMP Co-Directorshttps://calhum.org/a-conversation-with-crip-camp-co-directors/
Thu, 30 Apr 2020 11:19:55 +0000https://calhum.org/?p=13692We at California Humanities have been excitedly following the trajectory of CRIP CAMP since we first funded the project through a California Documentary Project grant back in 2018. So far, the film was selected to be a part of former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions’ slate of programming for Netflix, it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on opening night, won the Audience Award there for US Documentary, and was released on Netflix to a wide audience in March. We reached out to the co-directors, Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, whose story is also central to the film, to learn more about their experiences behind the scenes.

California Humanities: Take us back to the beginning. Where would you say the idea for this project come from at first? And when during the process did you begin to realize the kind of reception and distribution opportunities that it might have?

Camp Jened. Courtesy of Netflix.

Jim LeBrecht: Having worked in audio post production for over 25 years, I’ve had the pleasure to see and work on some excellent documentaries over time. But I rarely ever saw docs about the lived experience of people with disabilities. I thought that the story of Camp Jened and the exodus of campers and staff from the New York City area to Berkeley in the mid 1970s could be an important story. Maybe, just maybe, there was a connection to the camp and the disabled civil rights and independent living movement that was blossoming in the Bay Area and the rest f the country.

It was a chance remark at the end of a lunch with Nicole five years ago that got the ball rolling. I have worked with Nicole over 15 years as the sound designer and mixer on three of her feature length documentaries. I loved her work and wanted to pitch some film ideas to her over lunch. As we started our way back to the building where I had Berkeley Sound Artists, I told her that the film that I really wanted to make was one about my summer camp. I started to tell her about this place and the hippies and the freedom I had there, and her interest was piqued. When she saw the Facebook page full of photos of the camp back in the early 1970s, she was hooked.

Nicole Newnham: I was hooked because seeing kids with disabilities goofing around, filled with such joy and experiencing such freedom and community together was so delightful and infectious and also something I realized that we never see represented in the media. I’ve made previous films (Sentenced Home, Revolutionary Optimists) about young people making change. When Jim suggested that the thought that the camp experience was somehow linked to the disability rights and independent living movements that blossomed in Northern California in the 1970’s, my heart started to pound. It was only after a lot of discussion and research (and considering bringing the camp back to life with hybrid scenes) that we tracked down the People’s Video Theater and found their extraordinary footage (some of it shot by Jim!) which became the heart and soul of the film.

Jim LeBrecht: As we worked gathering materials and starting to shoot, we had some good clips and a trailer to show folks. The reaction to those materials was almost unanimous. People flipped over the black and white video footage of the camp in 1971. And for some people, seeing our fundraising trailer (edited by Andrew Gersh) changed their perception of disability! When we went to the film market at Independent Filmmaker Project in 2017, the interest was high. It was at that point that we thought we had something that was capable of attracting audiences.

California Humanities: Of course, the project is titled CRIP CAMP, and the trailers, and many of the reviews, focus on the camp aspect of it—a summertime haven for teens with disabilities where they got into all sorts of trouble and built bonds. However, we got involved because this is also a California story. What’s the connection to California and why was that aspect of the story so important to tell?

Still from CRIP CAMP. Courtesy of Netflix.

Jim LeBrecht: In the early 1970s, Berkeley became the center of the independent living movement. With the establishment of the first Center for Independent Living (CIL) close to the UC campus, Berkeley became the testing and proving ground for fully integrating people with disabilities into mainstream society. It was CIL that drew disabled civil rights legend Judith Heumann to Berkeley at Ed Roberts request. When Judy told us from camp about Berkeley, it was like a clarion call for us to migrate to the West Coast to establish a new life for ourselves. That’s one major part of our story. The other one was the 26-day takeover of the offices of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco. For close to a month, demonstrators stayed in the building to protest the Carter administration’s refusal to sign and release regulations that had far reaching civil rights protections for those with disabilities. The story is deeper than the location of the sit-in. It was because of the culture of San Francisco that the demonstrators could survive living in the building for so long. The Black Panthers brought in food. Support came from San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church. And local Gay and Lesbian organizations helped out, as well. And a big help came from the local unions. At that time, being politically involved in a liberation movement was something that many residents participated in. It was almost a badge of honor to have been arrested for some act of civil disobedience. To this day, the legacy of that movement can be felt throughout California and the rest of the world. The Ed Roberts Center in Berkeley is in a lot of ways a historical building in that it pays homage to Ed and the other fighters that gathered in Berkeley to gain our rights and independence.

Nicole Newnham: Jim and I both wanted the film to be a love letter to the radical, collectivist, world-changing culture of the Bay Area of that time. Like Camp Jened, the Bay Area represented the first experience of freedom to be themselves for so many people. For the Jenedians, it was the place where they could try to build something closer to what they had experienced at Jened in the larger world. Jim and I individually found freedom here and have built our adult lives and careers here. So being able to play a role in telling one of the Bay Area’s seminal and great civil rights stories was incredibly meaningful.

California Humanities: California Humanities recently released our equity values statement. As we worked on that, we were noticing that it seems disability and accessibility are becoming much more of a focus in conversations about equity and justice. What role does a film like CRIP CAMP play in this growing conversation?

Jim LeBrecht: It has been disheartening to hear about all of the diversity and inclusion campaigns that started becoming commonplace a few years ago. People were recognizing the need and value of embracing women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ communities in their business, guilds and companies. But those with disabilities weren’t on the radar of those same entities. Why was that? Why didn’t those people see that we were not only not at the table for these discussions, but we weren’t even in the building! It’s our hope that CRIP CAMP starts meaningful conversations that have needed to happen for a long time. We hope that the film forces people to look long and hard at their prejudices and fears against those with disabilities. If we can help reframe how the disabled are perceived by those with and without disabilities, then we’ll have more active voices rising up and organizations that will widen their minds and doorways for us to come in.

Still from CRIP CAMP. Courtesy of Netflix.

Nicole Newnham: CRIP CAMP is only one story, about one group of people, and there are so many other stories that need to be heard. It’s important that the conversation around the film doesn’t stay focused in the past. Our impact campaign—which will be active throughout the year—is led by and brings to the foreground emerging and established leaders from the disability justice movement. We hope that through supporting and lifting up cutting edge voices and stories from today’s movement, we can really make a change in people’s perception of disability as a social justice issue.

California Humanities: So many narratives around disability, particularly young people with disabilities, have a serious tone. CRIP CAMP highlights a lot of irreverence and joy, in addition to dealing with more solemn themes. What role does humor play in the telling of this story?

Jim LeBrecht: It’s fair to say that humor can be found in any culture. For many of us, disability is our culture. It is our common ground, our shared experience. So it makes sense that we have our own humor and other artistic expressions that are steeped in our experiences. Humor is a great way to express anger at injustices. It’s an outlet that creates comradery. But the other side of the coin is that humor is a way to take fear away from those on the outside. If I’m being irreverent or joking about my disability, it’s a signal that I’m comfortable about my particular situation. In CRIP CAMP you see a lot of joy and humor. Where else could we joke about the things that they outside world was so uncomfortable about?

Still from CRIP CAMP. Courtesy of Netflix | Photo: Steve Honigsbaum.

Nicole: We often said that this film should feel like a party that people really wanted to be invited into. So people would immediately know this story was the opposite of the usual tragedy, or “inspiration porn” tropes that so often are lifted up around disability. Also, in the face of oppression, joy is radical, and a vital part of community building and change making.

California Humanities: One of the themes of the film is about people who often are isolated building community. There’s also been this community that has formed around the film: funders, celebrities, activists, and now audiences. What do you think it’s important for people to know about the collaboration that it takes to make a film like yours?

Jim LeBrecht: I think that as filmmakers, you have to show that there is meaning behind your film. With a clear vision about why your film should be made and seen, it’s easier (but still not easy) to find funders and supporters. You have to craft a story that is compelling, taking your audience into a world they rarely if ever see. And, I suppose, the most compelling stories that are filled with drama, a fight, humor, and a look at the world unlike one has seen before.

Nicole Newnham: I think the line between doc filmmaker and organizer is very fine. That’s one thing I’ve always loved about the Bay Area doc community: it operates a bit like a movement. Every film is made by a family of those who recognize and support the birth of its story out into the world. Because we were co-directing, across different identities and perspectives (male/female, non-disabled/disabled) a real respect and openness and the ability to really listen and support each other was essential. We kept that going in our work with our editors which was intensely collaborative and trusting of what each person brought to the table, and in our work with our brilliant executive producers. I feel this is a film of a lifetime and Jim and I were both so lucky to be able to draw on people from the film, funding, philanthropic and activist communities that we’ve been working with for 25 years.

California Humanities: In addition to Sundance, Higher Ground, and Netflix, what are some milestones for you in terms of where CRIP CAMP has gone? What has working with big names like these been for you?

Nicole Newnham: We also managed to squeeze in being the opening night film for MOMA’s documentary fortnight, which was a real honor, were selected for True/False and won the Zeno Mountain Award at the Miami Film Festival before our festival run and planned theatrical release was cut short! From our first discussions with Priya & Tonia at Higher Ground, it was obvious that we shared the same values and saw the same culture-changing potential in the power of this story of young change makers and grassroots organizing. We were blessed with the President and Mrs. Obama reviewing cuts of our film and giving insightful feedback. It’s been a true collaboration and we are so grateful to have such an extraordinary platform from which to tell this story.

Jim LeBrecht: This has been a remarkable experience. Truly. Coming under the wing of the Obama’s Higher Ground production company and working with Netflix has been a massively positive experience. Higher Ground has been very hands on with Nicole Newnham and me. The commitment and experience that both Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davis from Higher Ground have given CRIP CAMP was an added boost to our already deft team of producers, editors, archivists and other artists. Netflix has been very supportive of our vision for the film, especially in how we wanted to execute accessibility for all to our film. Closed captions are available in 29 languages and they recorded audio descriptions in 17 languages. That’s well beyond the number of languages they typically do. They even produced a script of the film so that Deafblind people could experience CRIP CAMP.

California Humanities: What is next for the two of you?

Jim LeBrecht: I think we’re just starting to think about the future. There are avenues that the success of our film will open up for us. It’s going to be exciting, for sure, whatever the future brings. But it’s hard to imagine any project that will be as transformative and meaningful for us as CRIP CAMP has been.

]]>Congratulations to the 2020 California Documentary Project Granteeshttps://calhum.org/congratulations-to-the-2020-california-documentary-project-grantees/
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 18:45:28 +0000https://calhum.org/?p=1364416 new projects have been selected to receive a total $420,000 in awards through the 2020 California Documentary Project grant program. Twelve of the awards are for Production Grants, totaling $380,000, and four are for Research and Development Grants, totaling $40,000. From the first feature-length documentary to cover mothers of children who have been victims of racist violence, to a virtual reality project bringing to life the experience of a Japanese American teen in an incarceration camp during World War II, to a seven-part podcast and radio series exploring the people and culture of the San Joaquin Valley, these new projects add to a rich and diverse set of stories about California people and culture.
Still from BLACK MOTHERS.

The California Documentary Project (CDP) is a competitive grant program that supports high-quality humanities-based media productions that seek to document California in all its complexity. Projects use the humanities to provide context, depth, and perspective; enhance our understanding of California and its cultures, peoples, and histories; and should be suitable for both California and national audiences. Since 2003, California Humanities has awarded over $5.5 million to film, radio, and interactive documentaries that inform and engage broad audiences through multiple means through the California Documentary Project.

Still from HOW TO ESCAPE FROM PRISON.

In 2020, with 168 proposals submitted requesting a total amount of $5.3 million, California Humanities was able to fund roughly 9.5% of applicants, allocating the most funding for CDP grants in the past five years.

California Humanities would like to thank all of this year’s CDP applicants and the many reviewers who contributed their time and expertise to help make the selections.

2020 CALIFORNIA DOCUMENTARY PROJECT GRANTS

Research & Development Grants

BLACK MOTHERSProject Director: Debora Souza SilvaSponsor Organization: Kovno Communications, Inc.BLACK MOTHERS is the first feature-length documentary to examine the “Mothers of the Movement”, a growing, nationwide network of mothers whose children have been victims of racist violence. With unprecedented access, the film follows the journeys of women working to disrupt the cycle of violence, including Wanda Johnson, a California mother who channels the pain of the murder of her child, Oscar Grant, into organizing for justice and accountability.

Still from DELIVERING JUSTICE.

DELIVERING JUSTICE: A MOVEMENT IS BORNProject Director: Jen GilomenSponsor Organization: The Performance Zone, IncIn the US, more and more women, especially women of color, die in childbirth each year. This feature documentary will investigate why, following women from all walks of life—pregnant mothers, midwives, researchers, and leaders—who are building a movement to achieve “birth equity.”

LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUBProject Director: Delbert WhetterSponsor Organization: Film IndependentThis documentary tells the story of how fledgling punk rockers in the late 1970s, desperate for a friendly venue at which to play their then-nascent punk rock, found an unlikely partner in the perpetually cash-strapped San Francisco Deaf Club. Faced with their surprising commonalities, the two marginalized groups work together to reinvent their lives and cultures.

NEW WAVEProject Director: Elizabeth AiSponsor Organization: Women Make MoviesNEW WAVE is an historical coming-of-age documentary about displaced Vietnamese refugee youth who fled their country by boat and then in the 1980s redefined their identities in suburban Orange County, California, through New Wave music. Through intimate accounts from Southern Californian Vietnamese music industry veterans, viewers will learn of how they healed and transformed by building a raucous music scene that the Vietnamese diaspora and fans worldwide still celebrates today, nearly 40 years later.

Production Grants

Still from CITY LIGHTS.

CITY LIGHTSProject Director: Starr SutherlandSponsor Organization: Media Process Educational FilmsOne scrappy independent bookstore has survived the changing tides of the publishing world for seven decades—City Lights. A mainstay of San Francisco’s bohemian North Beach neighborhood since 1953, it is among the nation’s oldest independent bookstores and an icon in the industry. It also holds a special place in American literature as the rebellious publisher of unique voices, from the Beat poets of the 1950s to US Poet Laureates and a new generation of artists, poets, and activists keeping the City Lights spirit alive today.

Still from DOG WALK HOME.

DOG WALK HOMEProject Director: Vicki TopazSponsor Organization: International Documentary AssociationSet in Northern California, DOG WALK HOME tells the story of three US military veteran families struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the highly trained service dogs that help alleviate its symptoms. Within the context of an ongoing national crisis in veterans’ mental health care, the film explores how alternative treatments such as canine therapy can provide an unexpected and meaningful solution to the legacy of PTSD.

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM PRISONProject Director: Elizabeth MirzaeiSponsor Organization: Film IndependentEach year thousands of California prisoners serving life sentences fight to get parole; one resolute Dominican nun has made it her mission to see them succeed through a training course of mock hearings and self-critique. HOW TO ESCAPE FROM PRISON traces the threads of four interwoven lives as they navigate California’s fractured criminal justice system. Through these stories, the film amplifies the often-unheard voices in the conversation on recidivism, restorative justice, and prison reform.

Still from LUSO-FORNIA.

LUSO-FORNIAProject Director: David GrabiasSponsor Organization: Filmforum, Inc.Set in California’s Central Valley, LUSO-FORNIA takes an impressionistic view of the relationship between humanity, nature, and spirituality. The film focuses on generations of immigrants in an isolated town who turn to their Portuguese heritage to find meaning and community through an annual religious and cultural celebration that culminates in a “bloodless” bullfight. LUSO-FORNIA documents and celebrates California’s dairy lands and the often-overlooked beauty of its residents’ lives.

NOVEMBER IN MY SOULProject Director: Lee RomneySponsor Organization: Independent Arts & MediaNovember In My Soul is a ten-part podcast series told through the voices of people who are incarcerated or civilly committed due to mental illness and their families, experts, and scholars. Grounded in legal, medical, cultural, and social history, the series contextualizes one of the greatest philosophical dilemmas and public policy challenges in California and throughout the US.

OH HAPPY DAY!Project Director: Krystal TingleSponsor Organization: International Documentary AssociationThe gospel music mega-hit “Oh Happy Day!” made international history when its joyous sound broke into mainstream radio in 1969, the first gospel song to achieve such heights. Behind the record’s meteoric rise is a little-known story about the Hawkins family and their unassuming youth gospel choir from Oakland, California, who first recorded the hit. At the height of the civil rights movement, the teenage choir shattered walls of racism, religion, and homophobia and revolutionized gospel music.

THE OTHER CALIFORNIA PODCASTProject Director: Alice DanielSponsor Organization: Valley Public RadioThis seven-part podcast and broadcast series features in-depth audio storytelling about the people and culture of the San Joaquin Valley. Through reported pieces, interviews, and first-person narratives from each of the seven counties served by Valley Public Radio, the series brings listeners stories of life in a part of California that is at times overlooked by other media outlets. The station will conduct community engagement sessions for the series, and each episode will feature a segment driven by the voices of local youth.

Still from SONG OF SALT.

SONG OF SALTProject Director: Emma BaiadaSponsor Organization: Center for Independent DocumentaryThis 90-minute film is a haunting yet hopeful glimpse into the everyday life of a small California desert town as it grapples with economic despair, isolation, and recovery following a series of powerful earthquakes. A microcosm of contemporary rural America, the town of Trona, California reflects the complexities, hardships, and small beauties that are revealed when we look beyond prevailing stereotypes to more closely observe a community’s struggles and celebrations.

THE STANLEY HAYAMI VIRTUAL REALITY PROJECTProject Director: Nonny de la PeñaSponsor Organization: The Alliance for Media Arts + CultureUsing cutting-edge, immersive media, this virtual reality project brings to life the story of Japanese American teenager Stanley Hayami. Told through his letters, wartime diary, and personal artworks, the project traces his journey from home in the San Gabriel Valley to life in a concentration camp and military service during World War II. The interactive exhibit will on display at the Japanese American National Museum and online.

THE STOOPProject Director: Leila DaySponsor Organization: Left of Center GalleryTHE STOOP is a podcast and radio series featuring stories from across the Black Diaspora that explore issues of identity, race, and questions that both African American and black immigrant communities are curious about. Using a combination of journalism, storytelling, music, on-location interviews, and creative sound design, THE STOOP is hosted by two black women journalists—an African American, and an African immigrant—based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Still from THIRD ACT. Photo courtesy of Robert Nakamura.

THIRD ACTProject Director: Tadashi NakamuraSponsor Organization: LTSC Community Development CorporationTHIRD ACT is a documentary about 83-year-old filmmaker Robert (Bob) A. Nakamura, “the Godfather of Asian American film,” as he reflects on his influential 50-year career, the intergenerational trauma and psychological wounds resulting from his family’s incarceration during World War II, and his recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. Directed by his son Tadashi, the film poses a question at once personal and universal: how can a father and son say goodbye?

Still from VIVIEN’S WILD RIDE.

VIVIEN’S WILD RIDEProject Director: Vivien HillgroveSponsor Organization: Swell CinemaWhen veteran film editor Vivien Hillgrove starts to lose her eyesight, she embarks on an unconventional endeavor to create her own documentary memoir. Beginning in a home for unwed mothers in the era before Roe v. Wade, Hillgrove careens through San Francisco in the 1960s and reflects on her adventures as an editor and 50 years of Bay Area filmmaking. On her personal odyssey, she redefines kinship, conjures ghosts, develops a sensory survival manual, finds her artistic voice, and reminds us that disabilities can also open doors.

(Oakland, CA) —California Humanities is pleased to announce $420,000 in awards to 16 new projects through the 2020 California Documentary Project grants. Twelve of the awards are for Production Grants, and four are for Research and Development Grants.

The California Documentary Project (CDP) is a grant program that supports high-quality humanities-based media productions that seek to document California in all its complexity. Projects use the humanities to provide context, depth, and perspective; enhance our understanding of California and its cultures, peoples, and histories; and should be suitable for both California and national audiences.

This year, twelve Production Grants totaling $380,000 and four Research and Development Grants totaling $40,000 are awarded in support of documentary projects from independent filmmakers, podcasters, and public media organizations that shed light on current California issues, untold histories, and creative futures. From the first feature-length documentary to cover mothers of children who have been victims of racist violence, to a virtual reality project bringing to life the experience of a Japanese American teen in an incarceration camp during World War II, to a seven-part podcast and radio series exploring the people and culture of the San Joaquin Valley, each new project adds a layer to a complex and growing portrait of California.

The process in 2020 was highly competitive, with 168 proposals submitted, requesting a total amount of $5.3 million. In all, California Humanities is able to fund 8% of the California Documentary Project requests it has received for 2020. Since 2003, California Humanities has awarded roughly $5.5 million to film, radio, and interactive documentaries that inform and engage broad audiences through multiple means, including but not limited to radio and television broadcasts, podcasts, online, community screenings and discussions, classroom and library presentations, film festivals, and more.

“We’re grateful to have received so many applications and know that California is full of important stories that illustrate the diversity and richness of our state,” said Julie Fry, President & CEO of California Humanities. “We congratulate our newest grantees, knowing that the voices amplified by these grants will grow our collective understanding of the people and cultures of California. We’re pleased to be able to support more grantees this year than in prior rounds of the California Documentary Project, with more funds going to support filmmaking, audio production, and new media, thanks to first-ever investment this year by the State of California.”

2020 Research & Development Grants

BLACK MOTHERSProject Director: Debora Souza SilvaSponsor Organization: Kovno Communications, Inc.BLACK MOTHERS is the first feature-length documentary to examine the “Mothers of the Movement”, a growing, nationwide network of mothers whose children have been victims of racist violence. With unprecedented access, the film follows the journeys of women working to disrupt the cycle of violence, including Wanda Johnson, a California mother who channels the pain of the murder of her child, Oscar Grant, into organizing for justice and accountability.

DELIVERING JUSTICE: A MOVEMENT IS BORNProject Director: Jen GilomenSponsor Organization: The Performance Zone, IncIn the US, more and more women, especially women of color, die in childbirth each year. This feature documentary will investigate why, following women from all walks of life—pregnant mothers, midwives, researchers, and leaders—who are building a movement to achieve “birth equity.”

LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUBProject Director: Delbert WhetterSponsor Organization: Film IndependentThis documentary tells the story of how fledgling punk rockers in the late 1970s, desperate for a friendly venue at which to play their then-nascent punk rock, found an unlikely partner in the perpetually cash-strapped San Francisco Deaf Club. Faced with their surprising commonalities, the two marginalized groups work together to reinvent their lives and cultures.

NEW WAVEProject Director: Elizabeth AiSponsor Organization: Women Make MoviesNEW WAVE is an historical coming-of-age documentary about displaced Vietnamese refugee youth who fled their country by boat and then in the 1980s redefined their identities in suburban Orange County, California, through New Wave music. Through intimate accounts from Southern Californian Vietnamese music industry veterans, viewers will learn of how they healed and transformed by building a raucous music scene that the Vietnamese diaspora and fans worldwide still celebrates today, nearly 40 years later.

2020 CDP Production Grants

CITY LIGHTSProject Director: Starr SutherlandSponsor Organization: Media Process Educational FilmsOne scrappy independent bookstore has survived the changing tides of the publishing world for seven decades—City Lights. A mainstay of San Francisco’s bohemian North Beach neighborhood since 1953, it is among the nation’s oldest independent bookstores and an icon in the industry. It also holds a special place in American literature as the rebellious publisher of unique voices, from the Beat poets of the 1950s to US Poet Laureates and a new generation of artists, poets, and activists keeping the City Lights spirit alive today.

DOG WALK HOMEProject Director: Vicki TopazSponsor Organization: International Documentary AssociationSet in Northern California, DOG WALK HOME tells the story of three US military veteran families struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the highly trained service dogs that help alleviate its symptoms. Within the context of an ongoing national crisis in veterans’ mental health care, the film explores how alternative treatments such as canine therapy can provide an unexpected and meaningful solution to the legacy of PTSD.

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM PRISONProject Director: Elizabeth MirzaeiSponsor Organization: Film IndependentEach year thousands of California prisoners serving life sentences fight to get parole; one resolute Dominican nun has made it her mission to see them succeed through a training course of mock hearings and self-critique. HOW TO ESCAPE FROM PRISON traces the threads of four interwoven lives as they navigate California’s fractured criminal justice system. Through these stories, the film amplifies the often-unheard voices in the conversation on recidivism, restorative justice, and prison reform.

LUSO-FORNIAProject Director: David GrabiasSponsor Organization: Filmforum, Inc.Set in California’s Central Valley, LUSO-FORNIA takes an impressionistic view of the relationship between humanity, nature, and spirituality. The film focuses on generations of immigrants in an isolated town who turn to their Portuguese heritage to find meaning and community through an annual religious and cultural celebration that culminates in a “bloodless” bullfight. LUSO-FORNIA documents and celebrates California’s dairy lands and the often-overlooked beauty of its residents’ lives.

NOVEMBER IN MY SOULProject Director: Lee RomneySponsor Organization: Independent Arts & MediaNovember In My Soul is a ten-part podcast series told through the voices of people who are incarcerated or civilly committed due to mental illness and their families, experts, and scholars. Grounded in legal, medical, cultural, and social history, the series contextualizes one of the greatest philosophical dilemmas and public policy challenges in California and throughout the US.

OH HAPPY DAY!Project Director: Krystal TingleSponsor Organization: International Documentary AssociationThe gospel music mega-hit “Oh Happy Day!” made international history when its joyous sound broke into mainstream radio in 1969, the first gospel song to achieve such heights. Behind the record’s meteoric rise is a little-known story about the Hawkins family and their unassuming youth gospel choir from Oakland, California, who first recorded the hit. At the height of the civil rights movement, the teenage choir shattered walls of racism, religion, and homophobia and revolutionized gospel music.

THE OTHER CALIFORNIA PODCASTProject Director: Alice DanielSponsor Organization: Valley Public RadioThis seven-part podcast and broadcast series features in-depth audio storytelling about the people and culture of the San Joaquin Valley. Through reported pieces, interviews, and first-person narratives from each of the seven counties served by Valley Public Radio, the series brings listeners stories of life in a part of California that is at times overlooked by other media outlets. The station will conduct community engagement sessions for the series, and each episode will feature a segment driven by the voices of local youth.

SONG OF SALTProject Director: Emma BaiadaSponsor Organization: Center for Independent DocumentaryThis 90-minute film is a haunting yet hopeful glimpse into the everyday life of a small California desert town as it grapples with economic despair, isolation, and recovery following a series of powerful earthquakes. A microcosm of contemporary rural America, the town of Trona, California reflects the complexities, hardships, and small beauties that are revealed when we look beyond prevailing stereotypes to more closely observe a community’s struggles and celebrations.

THE STANLEY HAYAMI VIRTUAL REALITY PROJECTProject Director: Nonny de la PeñaSponsor Organization: The Alliance for Media Arts + CultureUsing cutting-edge, immersive media, this virtual reality project brings to life the story of Japanese American teenager Stanley Hayami. Told through his letters, wartime diary, and personal artworks, the project traces his journey from home in the San Gabriel Valley to life in a concentration camp and military service during World War II. The interactive exhibit will on display at the Japanese American National Museum and online.

THE STOOPProject Director: Leila DaySponsor Organization: Left of Center GalleryTHE STOOP is a podcast and radio series featuring stories from across the Black Diaspora that explore issues of identity, race, and questions that both African American and black immigrant communities are curious about. Using a combination of journalism, storytelling, music, on-location interviews, and creative sound design, THE STOOP is hosted by two black women journalists—an African American, and an African immigrant—based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

THIRD ACTProject Director: Tadashi NakamuraSponsor Organization: LTSC Community Development CorporationTHIRD ACT is a documentary about 83-year-old filmmaker Robert (Bob) A. Nakamura, “the Godfather of Asian American film,” as he reflects on his influential 50-year career, the intergenerational trauma and psychological wounds resulting from his family’s incarceration during World War II, and his recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. Directed by his son Tadashi, the film poses a question at once personal and universal: how can a father and son say goodbye?

VIVIEN’S WILD RIDEProject Director: Vivien HillgroveSponsor Organization: Swell CinemaWhen veteran film editor Vivien Hillgrove starts to lose her eyesight, she embarks on an unconventional endeavor to create her own documentary memoir. Beginning in a home for unwed mothers in the era before Roe v. Wade, Hillgrove careens through San Francisco in the 1960s and reflects on her adventures as an editor and 50 years of Bay Area filmmaking. On her personal odyssey, she redefines kinship, conjures ghosts, develops a sensory survival manual, finds her artistic voice, and reminds us that disabilities can also open doors.

About California HumanitiesCalifornia Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, promotes the humanities—focused on ideas, conversation and learning—as relevant, meaningful ways to understand the human condition and connect us to each other in order to help strengthen California. California Humanities has provided grants and programs across the state since 1975. To learn more, visit calhum.org or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

(Oakland, CA) — After a highly competitive process, California Humanities is pleased to announce awards for the 2020 Library Innovation Lab (LIL) cohort and grant program to ten public libraries across the state, representing the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, the Sierras, Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire, and San Diego metropolitan area.

Now entering its fourth year, the Library Innovation Lab carries on the tradition of American public libraries as resources and welcoming places for newcomers. LIL supports the design and delivery of relevant and responsive public humanities programming in California’s public libraries by providing a nine-month practice-based professional development program and grants of up to $5,000 to participants. The creative and innovative programs that library staff develop throughout the year will respond to the needs and circumstances of today’s immigrants and immigrant communities and foster more inclusive communities in California.

Each cohort member will research, design, implement, and assess a small scale, short-term public humanities project at their library between April 1 and December 31, 2020. Working in a collaborative learning environment that incorporates group meetings as well as individualized advising, participants will acquire new skills and knowledge in programming and project management. Throughout the year, they’ll experiment with new approaches to program development, building confidence and developing capacity in working with immigrants and other key audiences.

“We’re proud to welcome this cohort for Library Innovation Lab,” said Julie Fry, President & CEO of California Humanities. “The libraries in this group represent California’s broad geographic diversity, and the library staff hold a wide range of experiences—some are relatively new to library work, while others have may years under their belt, and many are immigrants themselves. We know that they’ll continue to build capacity for California libraries to serve all communities in our state—from newly arrived immigrants to longtime residents”

To date, 42 California libraries from across the state have participated in the program. A list of all Library Innovation Lab grantees can be found on the California Humanities website.

ABOUT LIBRARY INNOVATION LABLibrary Innovation Lab is supported in part by Wells Fargo Foundation and the generosity of individual donors throughout California.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA HUMANITIESCalifornia Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, promotes the humanities—focused on ideas, conversation and learning—as relevant, meaningful ways to understand the human condition and connect us to each other in order to help strengthen California. California Humanities has provided grants and programs across the state since 1975. To learn more, visit calhum.org or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.